Teaching short films in NZ schools

Still from “Six Dollar Fifty Man”, one of nine great kiwi shorts included in the Show Me Shorts in Schools kit

Show Me Shorts is proud to announce the release of a resource kit designed especially for New Zealand teachers.

The Show Me Shorts in Schools kit includes nine carefully curated short films that are both engaging and age-appropriate for primary and intermediate students. We listened when teachers told us they wanted to access and use our films in their lessons. While field trips to cinemas can be a great experience, they can also be prohibitively expensive on a tight education budget. The Show Me Shorts in Schools kit now allows teachers to screen these fantastic kiwi short films in the comfort and convenience of their own classrooms.

Along with the films, the kit includes a comprehensive resource booklet. This 33-page guide includes four lesson plans for each film, as well as background info on the film and its creation. The lessons are designed to support classroom teachers in exploration of short films and be adapted based on the needs of their students, while following key guidelines of the NZ curriculum. Click here for more information on the resources.

“National Standards require teachers to ensure their students can demonstrate skills in a variety of settings. Short films provide an enjoyable and accessible context for students to provide evidence of this, while also bringing the key competencies to life.”

The short films included are all local productions that have received wide critical acclaim, winning over 30 awards in total. Included are: Abiogenesis, Six Dollar Fifty Man, I’m Going to Mum’s, Day Trip, Koro’s Medal, Mokopuna, Noise Control, One Shoe Short and Just Like the Others.

The popularity of short films with children and young people, their convenient length and their richness as a media text make them a great resource for education professionals to use as a teaching aid. In an already crowded curriculum, the integrated approach of this resource gives an opportunity to make meaningful use of short films as a teaching tool.